Thank you!!
The tiara on the head of the Queen next to Margaret..isn't that the Norwegian Emerald Tiara? And that is Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood ,and the Duchess of Gloucester standing next to the Queen Mother?

The tiara on the head of the Queen next to Margaret..isn't that the Norwegian Emerald Tiara? And that is Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood ,and the Duchess of Gloucester standing next to the Queen Mother?

Marina bequeathed her jewels in the Greek fashion -- majority to the sons with the son-in-law expected to purchase jewellery for the daughter. But a lot of the Kent jewels have been sold over the years for money. Even right after Marina's death a brooch, necklace and earrings were sold to meet death duties. I think the Gloucesters willed everything to Richard before their deaths, because he had no trouble paying up. But Marina held on to her stuff til the end.

I wouldn't say "a lot" of Kent jewels were sold over the years for money. A few pieces were sold, but the majority has remained with the family.
Also, keep in mind that Princess Alice, unlike Princess Marina, had more private money as the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensbury. She had a small fortune to pass on to her son. In addition, the Duke of Gloucester inherited money from Princess Louise as well as her jewels.

If you look at the "kent jewels" thread in the "jewels" forum it's apparent that Princess Michael has many fine pieces of jewellry some of which were given to her as wedding gifts by the Duchess of Windsor when the Prince and Princess visited her in Paris whilst on honeymoon.

A ceremony is was hold today in the German city of Dresden to consecrate the Church of our Lady which was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. The Duke of Kent attended. I leave here a pic from the Duke, next to Germany´s first Lady, Eva Köhler.

Even today it is evident that the duchess was a beatiful lady in her younger years, she also seems a very sad person,

Katharine (as she now prefers to be called) Kent, has looked sad for some time, miscarriage can continue to affect some women more deeply than others, I don't think at the time, she was given a chance to grieve.
She was on the BBC last week with James Galway, talking about teaching music and their work for charity and some times her beauty still shone through.

1.The Duke of Kent toured the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers' welfare in Irag, 5th February:
2.The Duke of Kent meets "Ben" the goat during a visit to Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in Um Qasr, Irag on 5th February:
Pictures from Royal Insight:

I wouldn't say "a lot" of Kent jewels were sold over the years for money. A few pieces were sold, but the majority has remained with the family.

At least one brooch, a two necklaces, a pair of earrings, and a tiara have been sold that we know of. And since the jewels aren't likely to be seen in public much more due to Kate never needing them in her new life, more may have gone that we don't know of.

Quote:

Also, keep in mind that Princess Alice, unlike Princess Marina, had more private money as the daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensbury. She had a small fortune to pass on to her son. In addition, the Duke of Gloucester inherited money from Princess Louise as well as her jewels.

Alice was one of seven children of a not very wealthy Scottish duke. The current duke only has 50million, almost all of which is tied up in 4 estates and art. No small fortune to pass on to a daughter when the family is stuff-rich and cash-poor. She probably had a trust fund, but considering the Buccleuchs lack of wealth now, it probably wasn't much to look at.

The reason the Gloucesters weren't as hard up as the Kents is simply because they didn't have to go into debt during WWII. Once George died, Marina lost the stipend and she was dependent on George VI for money until after the war, when she was put on the Civil List (her husband had been on the CL, but she didn't take his position when he died). Those 3 years of hardship led to many of the financial problems the Kents have suffered to this day. They weren't able to build a nest egg, and were forced to sell furniture and deplete savings to survive.

The wealthiest of the Scottish aristocrats isn't saying much. Even the wealthiest Scottish aristocrats remain poor compared to English aristocrats. The Duke of Buccleuch today has around 50 million (the Duke of Roxburghe has 70 million or so), while the Earl of Derby, by no means near the wealthiest of the wealthy English aristocrats, has around 45 million, though.

The Buccleuchs are the largest private landowners in the UK (and possibly Europe with some 250,000 acres), but most of their land is in Scotland and isn't worth much money. Their wealth is tied up their agricultural estates and their art collection (things that don't earn a huge income), not in property, industry, stocks, etc (things that do).

Marina bequeathed her jewels in the Greek fashion -- majority to the sons with the son-in-law expected to purchase jewellery for the daughter. But a lot of the Kent jewels have been sold over the years for money. Even right after Marina's death a brooch, necklace and earrings were sold to meet death duties. I think the Gloucesters willed everything to Richard before their deaths, because he had no trouble paying up. But Marina held on to her stuff til the end.

i'm not familiar with the British laws, so i always wonder, in Britain, if somebody gives his children his money/valuable things as gifts before he dies, does he still have to pay tax about these things? if not, why so many people still hold on to their fortune untill they die and let their children pay so much death duties?

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In addition, the Duke of Gloucester inherited money from Princess Louise as well as her jewels.

The DoK inherited property that came from his great aunt, Pncess Victoria who left his father her country estate, Coppins. This was later sold and the Kents used a house on the Sandringham estate. Therefore, IMO, they must still have the proceeds from the sale of Coppins invested somewhere.

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